Knock-down chest of drawers, or the like



1962 J. M MARATECK ETAL 3,061,395

DOWN CHEST 0F DRAWERS, OR THE LIKE KNOCK- Filed July 29, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Jack M- Mira/eck BY Ha ro/o Mara fe ck d M m 4Oct- 30, 1962 J. M. MARATECK ETAL 3,061,395

KNOCK-DOWN CHEST OF DRAWERS, OR THE LIKE Filed July 29, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 2 WWII lllllu .MHHHMMIJHIII INVENTOR 5 ac /'7. Marafeck BYHam/cl Narafeck United States Patent Office 3,061,395 Patented Oct. 30,1962 33361595 KNfiCK-DOWN CHEST F DRAWERS, OR THE LHKE Jack M.Maratecir, 792 E. 175th St, and Harold Marateck, 1075 Nelson Ava, bothof New York, N.Y. Filed July 2?, H58, Ser. No. 751,735 2 Qiaims. (Cl.312Z7) The present invention relates to an article of furniture and,more particularly, to a chest of drawers or similar article.

One of the characteristics of articles of furniture such as those towhich the present invention relates which determines their relativelyhigh cost is their relatively large bulk. Such bulk aifects their costin a number of ways. The occupy large areas at the factory, both forassembly and for storage. Their bulk also looms large as an item in thecost of transportation from the factory to the retailer, as well as fromthe retailer to the cus tomer. They also require large storage space atthe retail outlets therefor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chest of drawersor the like that may be produced, stored and shipped in knock-downcondition from the factory to the retailer and also, if desired, fromthe retailer to the customer, to thereby materially reduce the cost ofstorage and transportation, all along the line of manufacture anddistribution, and thereby greatly reduce the cost to the ultimateconsumer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a knock-downchest of drawers or the like whose parts may be compactly packaged forstorage and transportation.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide aknock-down chest of drawers or the like whose parts are of simplecharacter and may be easily and economically mass-produced, and easilyand quickly assembled by anyone, without requiring skill or training,and by means of the simplest tools and equipment.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the knock-down chestof drawers, or similar article, of the present invention will becomemore readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodimentthereof shown in the accompanying drawings, and from the descriptionfolowing. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shownby way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of theinvention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent oflimiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a frame for a chest of drawers of thepresent invention, shown as assembled from knock-down parts;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the same, on a reduced scale, partlybroken away to show structural details;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled knockdown drawer for thechest of the present invention, partly broken away to shown structuraldetails;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the same, partly broken away to showstructural details;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the front part ofthe drawer bottom, showing clip means securing the front and bottomwalls of the drawer; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of such clip means.

Referring now in greater detail to the illustrative embodiment of theinvention shown in the drawings, the chest frame is shown to comprise apair of upright side frame members, each generally designated as 10,each consisting of a pair of upright posts 12, which may be of Wood or,preferably, as illustrated, rectangular, metal tubes. The uprights 12 ofeach side frame 10 are connected in suit-ably spaced relation to oneanother by connecting members, preferably of metal, each generallydesignated as 18, each of which may consist of an angle bar or T-bar 18,as illustrated, one side of which, as the cross piece 2% of T-bar 18, issecured, as by welding, in vertically spaced relation to the adjacentconnecting member, to the uprights 12, and the other side, such as theleg 22 of the T-bar extending at right angles to the leg 20 and forminga runner for a drawer. If desired, the runner 22 may carry rollers forthe drawers to facilitate its movement, by the striking and-offsettingof lugs 24-, in spaced position on the runner 22 and mounting a roller26 within the spaces 28, left out by each struck out ofiset lug 24, on apin 39 supported between the lug 24 and the crosspiece 24 of the T-bar13, as clearly shown in FIG. 3.

The side frame it) may each also have a preferably metallic top bar 32connecting the upper ends of the uprights 12, such top bar having one ormore pre-formed apertures 34 provided therein.

The side frames 10 are assembled at the factory and may each constitutea unit of the knock-down package. They may be assembled into a frame forthe chest of drawers by means of a rear wall or panel 36, which may bepro-formed with screw-receiving apertures 38 that will register withcorresponding threaded apertures 40 formed in the rear face of the rearuprights 12 of each side frame It) when such uprights are made of metal,to receive the connecting screws 42. The side frames it are furtherassembled by the front brace 44 connecting the front uprights 12 of thetwo side frames 10 below the lowermost of the braces. The front brace 44may likewise have pre-formed openings 46 at its ends to receive screwsthat connect it to the uprights 12 by the pre-formed threaded openingsSt The brace 44 is also provided with openings 52 intermediate theopenings St to receive screws for securing thereto the wooden face board54.

The side frames it) are further connected to one another by means of thetop board or table 56, which may be of wood or wood substitute and maybe secured in place, as by screws passing through the preformed openings34 in the top bars 32. The top board 56, the rear panel 36, the frontbrace 44, and the wooden board face 54, therefore, may comprise separatepreformed units of the knockdown package.

It will be readily apparent that the several members or knock-down unitsfor forming the chest frame of the present invention may be readilypreformed at a factory, at relatively low cost, and may be assembledinto a sturdy and rigid and accurately assembled structure, either atthe warehouse or store, or by the customer, at his home, bysubstantially anyone having the simplest of tools and even a minimum ofskill in their use, such assembly requiring, actually, only ascrewdriver and a minimum skill in its use.

The drawer for the chest of the present invention, generally designatedas 60, may be prepared in knock-down state. It may consist of a frontwall 62, side walls 64, a rear wall 66, and a bottom wall 63, all ofwhich may be appropriately precut and prefabricated, preferably fromwood or wood substitute therefor. The side walls 64 are preferably oflesser height than the front wall 62, and the rear wall 66 is of lesserheight than side walls 64.

The front wall 62 may be of suitable conventional size and shape and isformed with a pair of suitably spaced dovetail-shaped grooves 76 acrossits height, on the inner face thereof. Each of the side walls 64 mayhave a dovetail-shaped tenon 72 on one end, adapted to fit in a groove70, and a dovetail-shaped groove 74 across its height, adjacent itsother end, facing the companion side wall 62. The rear wall 66 is formedwith a dovetail-shaped tenon 7'6, at each of its ends, adapted to fitinto grooves 74 of the two side walls. The grooves 74 may terminateshort of the bottom of the side walls 64 and longitudinallyextendinggrooves 78 are formed in the same face of the side wall at the foot ofsuch groove 74 in each of side walls 64. A longitudinally-extendinggroove 80 is formed at the bottom of the inner face of the front wall 62in register with the two grooves 78, said grooves '78 and 8'!) slidablyreceiving the drawer bottom 66. The front, side, rear and bottom wallsof the drawer may comprise separate knock-down units which may bereadily and easily assembled, either at the place of sale or at theplace of ultimate delivery.

In order to ensure the several parts of the drawer against disassembly,the bottom edge of the rear wall may be formed with a number ofscrew-engaging openings 84 and the rear end of bottom wall 68 may beprovided with corresponding screw-receiving openings 32, through whichscrews, as 86, may be used to secure the bottom wall in position.Additional securing means may be provided between the front wall 62 andthe bottom wall 66 in the form of one or more L-shaped clips 38, one legof which may have an outwardly ofiset prong 90 at its end and the otherleg of which may have offset prongs 92 struck out therefrom. One or moreof such clips may be secured in the corner formed between the front wall62 and the bottom wall 66, with the prongs of the two clip legs eachengaging in one of the walls, as clearly shown in FIG. 9 of thedrawings.

In order to more firmly secure the side walls against the front wall,especially against vertical displacement, the inner face of the frontwall may be formed with longitudinally-extending grooves 94, eachencompassing one of the dovetail-shaped grooves 70, such grooves $4extending transversely of such dovetail-shaped grooves 79 and to eachside thereof. The dovetail-shaped tenon 72 of each of the side walls 64is provided with a passageway 96 at its inner end in vertical registerwith a groove 94 when in assembled position. A metal bar 93, of greaterlength than the thickness of a side wall 64, is slid into each groove 94to engage through the passageway 96 of the tenon 72 of an associatedside wall. The bar 98 is formed with screw-receiving openings 160 ateach end, through which wood screws 102 may be passed to engage the bar98 against the front wall 62 and thereby immobilize the side walls onthe front wall.

The clips 88, the bars 98, and wood screws we may be packaged with thedrawer and frame members in the knock-down package of the chest of theinvention.

The chest of drawers of the present invention is assembled as follows.The frame may be first assembled by connecting the side frame members 10to one another by the rear panel 36 and the front brace 44. The topboard 56 may then be secured in place and also the brace face board 54;all by means of appropriate screws provided in the knock-down kit,through the preformed openings provided therefor in the several framemembers.

Each of the drawers may be assembled as by first inserting the endtenons 72 of the side walls 64 in the grooves 70 provided for them onthe inner face of the front wall 62. The rear wall 66 may then beengaged by its tenons 76 in the grooves 74 of the side walls 64. Thebottom wall 66 may then he slid and received in the longitudinal grooves73 and 80 of the side and front walls, respectively. The bottom wall 66may be secured in place by means of the screws 36 engaging through itsopenings 82 in the openings 84 of the bottom edge of the rear wall 66.Thereafter, if desired, clips 38 may be hammered in place to secure thefront end of the bottom wall 66 to the front 6. wall 62, and bars Q8 maybe slid through grooves 94- and openings 96 in the end tenons of theside walls 64 and secured in place by screws 102 to fix the side wallsin position on the front wall.

This completes the description of the knock-down chest of drawers, orthe like, of the present invention; of the knockdown units of which itis formed; and of the manner in which they are assembled. It may here bestated that a chest of drawers, or the like, of the present inventionmay be formed of any desirable height and width, to receive any desirednumber of drawers of any desired size.

It may here also be stated that the present invention need not belimited to a chest of drawers, but may be readily adapted for use forthe making of various other articles of furniture, for household oroffice use. Such other articles of furniture may include tables, desks,vanities, or the like. Thus, the connection of a pair of frames of thepresent invention by a single top board will produce either a desk or avanity. Similarly, the provision for a single frame of the presentinvention of an elongated top board that extends to one side of theframe, with an additional set of legs for the unsupported end of the topboard, will provide another type of desk, or the like. Similarly, thewide spacing of a pair of frame members of the invention, each havingonly a single horizontal connecting member and drawer runner close tothe top of the posts thereof, to accommodate a relatively shallowdrawer, will provide a table.

It will be apparent that the chest of drawers, or the like, of thepresent invention may not only be readily and easily assembled from afactory-prepared package, but may, at any time, be knocked down andre-assembled, as may be desired, for moving from place to place or fortemporary storage.

It will be also apparent that the chest of drawers, or the like, of thepresent invention, when assembled, comprises a strong, durable, rigidand true structure, whose drawers will be movable with great ease andfacility, without binding or jamming.

It will be further apparent that numerous modifications and variationsin the chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention may bemade by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles andpractice of the invention hereinabo-ve set forth, and without theexercise of any inventive ingenuity. We desire, therefore, to beprotected for any and all such modifications and variations that may bemade within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of theclaims hereto appended.

What we claim is:

1. A knock-down drawer, including a front wall having a verticallydisposed, dovetail-shaped groove formed therein adjacent each end of theinner face thereof, a pair of side walls each having a dovetail-shapedtenon at one end thereof engageable in a dovetail-groove of said frontwall and a vertically-extending, dovetail-shaped groove formed thereinadjacent its other end, and a longitudinallyextending groove adjacentthe bottom of its dovetailgrooved face, a rear wall of lesser heightthan said side walls and having a dovetail-shaped tenon at each endengageable within a dovetail-shaped groove of a side wall, and a bottomwall engageablc within said longitudinallyextending grooves, said bottomwall having spaced apertures formed adjacent its rear end, each adaptedto receive a screw engageable in the bottom edge of said rear wall forsecuring said bottom wall in place, said front drawer wall beingprovided with a groove on its inner face extending transversely of eachof said dovetailshaped grooves thereof and extending to each sidethereof, and each of said side walls is formed with an aperture throughthe tenon thereof and a pair of bars, each disposable within one of saidgrooves and passing through said aperture in the side wall and securableagainst said front wall.

2. The knock-down drawer of claim 1, wherein each References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brolaski May 20, 1884Yawman Jan. 28, 1919 Chipperfield Dec. 20, 1921 Knechtel Sept. 25, 19236 Mount Apr. 20, 1926 Curran Feb. 28, 1950 Mankki Aug. 29, 1950 HautApr. 3, 1951 \Vallance Oct. 23, 1951 Dennison Oct. 9, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS Great Britain 1897 Canada Jan. 8, 1952

